Marijuana Moment: South Carolina Lawmakers Advance Hemp Restriction Bills, Including One To Allow THC Drinks

[Tokeativity]

One lawmaker said the state should protect minors without “trampling all over the freedoms” of adults.

By Adrian Ashford, South Carolina Daily Gazette

Legislation banning or nearly banning hemp products infused with THC, providing an alternative high in a state where marijuana remains illegal, advanced Wednesday to the House floor.

House Judiciary Chairman Weston Newton, the chief sponsor of both bills, said he proposed two options in recognition that a total ban may fail, leaving the intoxicating products available to children.

His more lenient proposal gives an exception for “intoxicating hemp beverages.” A business could apply for a license to sell 12-ounce cans or containers that contain up to 5 milligrams each of delta-9 THC, the compound in marijuana that gets people high. Like alcohol, sales would be limited to adults 21 and older.

The industry has flourished in a legal gray area since the 2018 federal farm bill effectively legalized hemp and very low levels of THC extracted from it. It was supposed to help farmers looking to grow hemp for non-intoxicating uses.

But it created a giant loophole: While it specified that delta-9 THC concentrations in hemp up to 0.3 percent “on a dry weight basis” were legal, neither it nor a 2019 state law that mirrored the federal language set any parameters for how much of the legal compound could be added to drinks or edibles, such as gummies, or set any age requirements for consumption. They also didn’t at all address other THC derivatives from hemp, such as delta-8 and delta-10.

Vape shops sprung up statewide to sell the unregulated products. But it was the realization that infused drinks were available at gas stations that really got legislators’ attention.

A bipartisan proposal to ban sales to anyone under 21 passed the House nearly unanimously last April, a month before session’s end. Senators didn’t take it up, though they could this year.

Legislators from both parties said Wednesday that it’s past time to close sales to minors. But they disagreed on where to draw the line for adults.

Rep. John McCravy was among two GOP legislators who voted against keeping infused beverages legal. He said he doesn’t want to see any legal THC in South Carolina.

“We already have a DUI problem in our state,” said the Greenwood Republican. “To hand this into the mix, on top of the alcohol, it’s just going to make things worse.”

The other “no” vote on that bill came from Horry County Republican Jeff Johnson.

South Carolina led the nation in having the highest drunken driving fatality rate, according to a 2024 report from the state chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Senators are debating legislation that could establish a process for law enforcement to test if a driver is high on THC. No system for testing a driver who’s just been pulled over exists.

The total ban faced more opposition Wednesday, with five Democrats voting against it.

Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said the state should protect minors without “trampling all over the freedoms” of adults.

Both bills would keep non-psychoactive products with only cannabidiol, or CBD, legal. Unlike THC, CBD doesn’t impair a user, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and is often used in oils or lotions for pain relief.

Advocates make their case

Later Wednesday, representatives of the hemp products industry held a reception for legislators at a restaurant a few blocks from the Statehouse to advocate for regulations that protect businesses and customers—not a ban.

About 40 people attended the reception. At least four legislators spoke against a ban. They included the Statehouse’s newest legislator, Summerville Republican Greg Ford, who narrowly won a special election earlier this month.

Another Republican to speak was Sen. Wes Climer of Rock Hill, who’s running to be the next congressman representing the 5th District. Comparing hemp to the crypto industry, he said the Legislature shouldn’t ban things just because they’re new or unfamiliar.

Business owners there to make their case included Jody and Brian Luke of Charlotte, who run PureRemedies CBD, which sells hemp-derived THC and CBD products in one store in Charlotte and another just south of the border in Fort Mill.

Jody Luke said she believes both bills that advanced Wednesday would “devastate” the hemp industry and drive people like her out of business. It wouldn’t be profitable to sell just CBD products or just one kind of low-dose beverage, she said, adding that the vast majority of her revenue comes from THC products.

She uses the products to treat a degenerative disc disease and anxiety, she said, and they’ve helped her quit antidepressants and back pain medication.

“People have found true relief,” she said of the products.

Luke blamed “bad actors” for giving businesses like hers a bad reputation. She only sells the products to adults over 21, and stickers on her stores’ doors make that clear. Employees scan a buyer’s ID before selling to them. She said they also test their products before selling them — as the bill allowing some hemp beverages would require.

The 2018 federal Farm Bill that legalized hemp was designed to let farmers grow it for things like rope or clothing.

A last-minute addition to the stopgap spending law that ended the federal government shutdown last November is designed to close the loophole that created the gray area. It bans the sale of any hemp product with more than 0.4 milligrams of THC, starting this November.

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House earlier this month would delay implementation by two years. A separate bill filed last week by a Virginia Republican and a Texas Democrat would instead create a nationwide regulatory framework for hemp products.

South Carolina law enforcement recently began cracking down on the sale of hemp products with illegally high amounts of THC. Proving they’re illegal requires testing the products, a time-consuming process that helps explain why stores have largely been left alone.

In December, Attorney General Alan Wilson (R) announced 12 arrests and the seizure of more than 30,000 pounds of marijuana joints, edibles and various other THC products in a joint drug trafficking investigation dubbed “Ganjapreneur.”

This story was first published by South Carolina Daily Gazette.

The post South Carolina Lawmakers Advance Hemp Restriction Bills, Including One To Allow THC Drinks appeared first on Marijuana Moment.

View the live link on MarijuanaMoment.net